“Four International Security Assistance Force service members died following an insurgent attack in eastern Afghanistan today,” ISAF said in a statement.

In line with policy, ISAF did not disclose the nationalities of the troops but local officials told AFP the attack in Nijrab district of Kapisa province targeted a convoy of French troops.

“The suicide attack against French troops killed six troops and wounded four,” Sultan Mohammad Safi, the head of Nijrab provincial council, told AFP, adding that four French soldiers and three civilians were wounded in the attack.

Taliban militants claimed responsibility for the attack in a text message sent to reporters.

France has 3 500 soldiers in Afghanistan, mostly stationed in Kapisa, and provides the fifth largest contingent to Nato’s 130 000-strong US-led force.

Kapisa, which controls part of the access to Kabul from Taliban flashpoints on the Pakistani border, has proved a tough fight for the French, troubled by turf wars between the Islamist insurgents and drug dealers. Sapa-AFP